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Bucks-Lakers: 56k | 300k |
O'Neal dominated the Bucks, who have little inside presence, for his second 20-20 performance in four games. He made 14-of-16 shots from the floor and 3-of-5 free throws, scoring 30 points for the first time since February 18.
"I was told by (assistant coach) Tex Winters to just go get on the boards," O'Neal said. "I can, and I just went after them. I didn't really take shots early, so I said I was going to do other stuff."
Bryant had 22 points on 7-of-17 shooting but went scoreless for nearly six minutes before burying a jumper from the top of the key over Keith Van Horn to give the Lakers a 104-103 edge.
"I knew I could put arc on the ball and get it over the top," Bryant said. "I've shot the ball over Yao Ming before, so Van Horn was pretty easy."
Van Horn, who had 32 points and nine rebounds, badly missed a runner as time wound down and O'Neal secured the rebound as Los Angeles extended its winning streak to five games.
"I was trying to go to the hoop and I got fouled, and they didn't call it," Van Horn said.
The Lakers won for the 16th time in 20 games and moved within one game of Minnesota for the second-best record in the Western Conference. They are one game ahead of fourth-place San Antonio.
"We're winning games," O'Neal said. "We're not winning them pretty, we're fighting. We know we have a lot of fight."
Michael Redd scored 17 points for the Bucks, who had five players in double figures but lost for the eighth time in nine games. They are just 1 1/2 games ahead of sixth-place Miami in the East.
"We don't count moral victories," Milwaukee coach Terry Porter said. "We did what we set out to do, competed at a high level and gave ourselves a chance to win the game."
